Jacks Or Better Strategy Card
Jacks or Better Strategy. Understand all combinations and see how close your hand is to winning them. If you require more than 2 cards to achieve the combination, it is better to try for other options. When you have a pair of cards, calculate the odds and decide to hold or break them. Jacks or Better Strategy. This section covers some important strategies used by expert players to make the most of their time and money in Jacks or Better poker. The game's RTP, or return to player percentage, is 99.46% on a full pay game. This means the house edge is lower than many other casino games.
- Jacks or Better Optimal Strategy The third and final strategy when playing Jacks or Better is the optimal strategy. Playing while utilizing this can up your theoretical RTP to 99.54%. In some ways, this tactic is easier to put into play than the intermediate, as all you have to do is look up a chart again.
- 7/5 Jacks or Better. At 7/5 Jacks or Better, a full house pays 7 credits, and a flush pays 5 credits per coin wagered. The maximum payout to the player falls to 96.15%. 6/5 Jacks or Better. The 6/5 Jacks or Better payout is found in many casinos these days. It is even found at many online casinos where I think the payouts should be much higher.
Jacks or Better Short-term Playing Strategy
7/5 Jacks Or Better Strategy Card
The following is taken from Power Video Poker,
the Only Video Poker Book You'll Ever Need!
The following chart shows the Simplified Playing Strategy for all versions of Jacks of Better video poker.While this playing strategy was developed for short-term play, you may use it for long-term play as well giving up only a few hundreds of a percent of potential return.
Simplified Playing Strategy for Jacks or Better
Hand to be held | Cards held | Cards drawn |
5 | 0 | |
Straight Flush | 5 | 0 |
Four of a Kind | 5 | 0 |
Full House | 5 | 0 |
Four to a Royal Flush | 4 | 1 |
Flush | 5 | 0 |
Three of a Kind | 3 | 2 |
Straight | 5 | 0 |
Four to a Straight Flush | 4 | 1 |
Two Pair | 4 | 1 |
High Pair | 2 | 3 |
Three to a Royal Flush | 3 | 2 |
Four to a Flush | 4 | 1 |
Low Pair | 2 | 3 |
Four to a Straight | 4 | 1 |
Three to a Straight Flush | 3 | 2 |
Two to a Royal Flush | 2 | 3 |
Two High Cards | 2 | 3 |
One High Card | 1 | 4 |
Nothing | 0 | 5 |
Explanation of Simplified Playing Strategy for Jacks or Better
The chart above lists the hierarchy of hands to be played in Jacks or Better video poker games.The higher the hand is in the chart, the greater its value.For example, Three of a Kind is ranked higher than a Straight and Two Pair outranks a High Pair.
Hand to be Held- Refers to the hand dealt to you with the first five cards.You will always keep a hand that is closer to the top of the chart.
Cards Held – the number of cards you will keep of the original cards dealt.
Cards Drawn – the number of card you will draw.For example, if you are dealt a High Pair, keep the pair and draw three cards.
Explanation of terms:
1.The term high refers to any card ranked Jack or higher.The term low refers to cards less than a Jack in value.Ace, King, Queen and Jack are high cards.2 through 10 are low cards.
2.A Royal Flush is refers to five sequential cards of the same suit staring with a 10 and ending with an Ace.For example, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of spades.This is the top hand for Jacks of Better.
3.A Straight Flush refers to five sequential cards of the same suit but not starting with a 10 and ending with an Ace.For example, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack of hearts.
4.Four of a Kind refers to four cards of the same number or picture card.For example, four 2s or four Kings.
5.Full House consists of a hand with three cards of the same number or same picture card and two cards of the same number or same picture card.For example, three 6s and two Queens.
6.Four to a Royal Flush means that you have four of the five cards needed to make a Royal Flush.For example, if you have Jack, Queen, King and Ace of diamonds.In this case you only need one card, the Ten of diamonds to complete the Royal Flush.
7.Flush consists of five card of the same suit.For example 2 4 5 8 9 and Jack of spades.
8.Three of a Kind is three cards of the same number or same picture card.For example, three Jacks or three 7s.
9.Straight is five cards all in sequential order but not of the same suit.For example, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 or mixed suits.
10.Four to a Straight Flush means that you have four of the five cards needed to make a Straight Flush.For example, if you have 4, 5, 6 and 7 of spades.
11.Two Pair refers to two pairs of the card of the same number or card picture.For example, two 4s and two 9s.
12.High Pair is a pair of cards valued Jack or Higher.For example, a pair of Jacks or a pair of Kings
13.Three to a Royal Flush means that you have three of the five cards needed to make a Royal Flush.
14.Four to a Flush consists of four cards of the same suit.For example, 4, 7, 9 and Jack of diamonds.
15.Low Pair is two of the same cards valued ten or lower.For example two 5s or two 9s.
16.Four to a Straight consists of four cards in order but not of the same suit.For example 4,5, 6 and 7 of mixed suits.
17.Three to a Straight Flush means that you have three cards in order and of the same suit to make a Straight Flush.For example, 3, 4, 5 or hearts or 5, 6, 7 of clubs.
18.Two to a Royal Flush means you have two of the cards in order of the same suit to secure a Royal Flush.For example, a Queen and King of hearts or a Jack and Queen of spades.
19.Two High Cards means two cards which are not a pair valued as Jacks or better.For example, Jack, Ace.
20.One High Card refers to one card ranked Jack or better.For example, if you have one King or just one Ace.
21.Nothing means that none of your cards will make any of the hands mentioned above in the first five cards dealt to you.
Let’s take another look at the playing chart and consider some of the decisions you will have to make when you follow this playing strategy.
1.Whenever you hold Four Cards to a Royal Flush discard the fifth card even if that card gives you a flush or a pair.
2.A High Pair, Three of a Kind, a Straight and a Flush all outrank Three to a Royal Flush.Play the Three to a Royal Flush when you have lesser hands such as Four to a Flush or a Low Pair.
3.With Two Cards to a Royal Flush keep Four to a Straight, Four to a Flush or a High Pair.Otherwise, go for the Royal Flush.
4.Never break up a made Straight or a Flush, unless one card gives you a chance to make a Royal Flush.Another way of saying this is that you will give up a Straight or Flush if you only need only card to make a Royal Flush.
5.Keep a High Pair over Four to a Straight or Four to a Flush.
6.You will never break up Four of a Kind, a Full House,Three of a Kind or Two Pair.The worthless cards for the last two hands will be discarded.
7.Always keep a High Pair unless you have Four Cards to a Royal Flush or Four to a Straight Flush.
8.Keep a Low Pair over Four to a Straight or Three to a Straight Flush.However, you will discard them in favor or Four to a Flush or Three or Four to a Royal Flush.
9.If you are dealt an unmade hand you will try to improve them in the following order:
Four to a Royal Flush and Straight Flush, Three to a Royal Flush, Four to a Flush, Four to a Straight, Three to a Straight Flush, Two to a Royal Flush, Two High Cards and one High Card.Any of these nonpaying hands can, with the right draws, turn into winning hands.
10.Lacking any of the above, that is numbered cards 1 to 9, with no card Jack or higher, discard all of the cards and draw five fresh ones.
This strategy can be applied to the
following versions of Jacks or Better:
1.Jacks or Better
2.Bonus Poker
3.Bonus Poker Deluxe
4.White Hot Aces Bonus Poker
5.Double Bonus Poker
6.Double Double Bonus Poker
7.Triple Bonus Bonus Poker
8.Triple Bonus Jacks or Better
9.Super Double Bonus Poker
Instant Access to the Power Video Poker Strategy
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Video poker is the umbrella used for dozens of different gambling machines that all feature almost identical game-play. The most basic version of both casino and online video poker today is Jacks or Better, so called because the lowest-paying hand in the game is a pair of jacks, queens, kings, or aces.
These games all work the same way, but the way to get good at any of them is to master Jacks or Better first. If you get the hang of Jacks or Better, you can play a casino game where the house edge is less than 0.5%.
And that’s something worth doing.
Here are some tips and strategies for Jacks or Better to get you started.
Understanding the Bets and the Sizing of Those Bets
If you’re completely new to the game, you might not understand the importance of betting 5 coins per hand.
That’s the first decision you’ll make at any Jacks or Better game, but it’s a no-brainer, because there’s only one correct decision:
Always play the max coin bet, which is 5 coins.
The reason you always make the max coin bet in Jacks or Better – or any other video poker game, for that matter – is because you trigger a bigger payoff by doing so.
You can bet 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 coins per hand in video poker. If you bet anything other than 5 coins, the best possible payout is 200 for 1. That’s for the jackpot hand – a royal flush.
But…
If you bet 5 coins, that hand pays off at 800 for 1.
And even though that hand only comes up once in every 40,000 hands on average, it’s a big enough difference in the payout percentage that playing for fewer coins will lower the payback percentage by 2%.
Some More Specifics About the Jacks or Better Pay Table
It’s become customary to use an abbreviated pay table when discussing video poker games like Jacks or Better. Here’s an example of the so-called “full pay” Jacks or Better pay table:
1-2-3-4-6-9-25-50-800
These are the payouts that correspond to the hands in this order:
- A pair of jacks or better
- 2 pairs
- 3 of a kind
- A straight
- A flush
- A full house
- 4 of a kind
- Straight flush
- Royal flush
A pair of jacks or better pays off at even money, 1 for 1. 2 pairs pays off at 2 for 1. 3 of a kind pays off at 3 for 1. And so on.
The important numbers on a Jacks or Better table, though, are the payouts for the full house and the flush. On a full pay Jacks or Better game, the full house pays off at 9 for 1, and the flush pays off at 6 for 1.
These are the 2 hands where the casinos change the payouts if they want to offer a game with better odds for them.
If you play with the optimal strategy on a Jacks or Better game with the pay table above, the casino house edge is only 0.46%, and the payback percentage is 99.54%.
But if the casino only pays 8 for 1 for a full house and 5 for 1 for a flush, that payback percentage drops to 97.3%. The house edge skyrockets to 2.70%.
And that’s assuming you’re playing with perfect strategy.
If you’re making mistakes, you might be giving up another 1% or 2% to the casino.
The beginning of wisdom in Jacks or Better video poker is to recognize the best pay tables and play only the machines with those pay tables.
Where to Find the Best Jacks or Better Pay Tables
If you play Jacks or Better online, it’s relatively easy to find full pay Jacks or Better games. The best online casinos offer this as a matter of course.
Be careful of multi-hand games, though. Most online casinos do NOT offer 9/6 Jacks or Better games in multi-hand format.
As my uncle used to say, that’s how they get you!
You can also find full pay Jacks or Better games in traditional casinos, but that often requires doing your own scouting. You’re more likely to find full pay Jacks or Better in smaller casinos that cater more to locals.
If you’re in Las Vegas, forget all about the video poker machines at the airport. You’re lucky to find 7/5 Jacks or Better there. Some of the games there are 6/5 Jacks or Better, which is awful. You might as well play roulette.
The big casinos on the Strip MIGHT offer full pay Jacks or Better in the high limit slots room. You can pretty much forget about finding those games on the regular casino floor, though.
If you’re not wanting to do your own scouting, one of the best things you can do is join a community of gamblers or video poker players on the internet and share information with them. You can find multiple such sites with little effort using Bing or Google.
Learning How to Play Your Hands
That 99.54% payback percentage assumes you know how to play each hand perfectly – in other words, you know which cards to hold and which ones to discard, and in which situations.
That’s probably an easier strategy to learn in Jacks or Better video poker than in any other video poker game.
I’ll provide some of the basics of Jacks or Better strategy here, but keep in mind that this isn’t a full strategy. You’re still giving up a couple of tenths of a percentage by following the strategy.
But it’s a good place to start to learn video poker strategy.
Start with the understanding that some pat hands should require no thought on your part. If you’re dealt any of these 3 hands, just keep ‘em and take your payout:
- Royal flush
- Straight flush
- 4 of a kind
The only tricky hand in that lot is the straight flush, because sometimes you’ll get a straight flush that’s also a draw to the royal flush.
Don’t break up your straight flush to try to hit the royal flush. It’s not worth it.
After those 3 hands, the best possible hand you can have is 4 cards to a royal flush. Any time you get 4 cards to a royal flush, it’s always appropriate to hold onto those cards and draw to the royal flush. This can mean discarding a hand that might be a sure thing.
With that in mind, you have a couple of other hands which you should always hold onto (unless you also have the 4-to-a-royal-flush.) These hands are:
- Full house
- Flush
- 3 of a kind
- Straight
The lesson you should be taking away from this discussion of Jacks or Better strategy is this:
You should try to let the machine deal you a winning hand or a royal flush draw.
Jacks or Better strategy starts getting slightly more complicated after this.
If you don’t have that, then you should hold onto 2 pairs or a pair of jacks or better
As you can see, there are only 2 hands worth breaking up a winning hand to draw to:
- 4 to a royal flush, which you should almost always draw to.
- 4 to a straight flush, which you should be willing to break up a pair to draw to.
That’s it. If you have a paying hand, those are the cards to keep.
After that, you start thinking about drawing hands. If you have 3 cards to a royal flush, you’ll keep that even if it means throwing away a small pair. You’ll also prefer 4 cards to a flush to a small pair.
But after that, you’ll want to draw to your small pairs in the hopes of getting 3 of a kind.
After that, focus on higher ranked cards that have straight flush or royal flush possibilities.
Conclusion
Mastering Jacks or Better video poker is the first step in mastering every other video poker variation. If you can play it well, you can usually adjust your strategy for the other games based on the changes in the pay tables.
9 6 Jacks Or Better Strategy Card
In fact, that’s the main difference between Jacks or Better and other video poker variations – the pay table. Some games use wild cards, too, but it’s all about maximizing your expected value from each hand.